How is it the Friday before Christmas week already??? It's my first of the school year SNOW DAY so I am happy. Next week, although we have school Monday-Thursday, we are allowed to leave by 1:45 instead of 2:30. The students will still be in the classroom from 8:30-12:45. I'm super excited to begin Christmas break next week and super thankful that my work day will be shortened.
For now, I'm pausing to share FIVE of my FAVE things from the past week. I do this to stay in an attitude of gratitude.....thanking the Lord for the special blessings He brought into my life. If you'd like to do this too, just head on over to Susanne's blog to learn more about it and link up your post.
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| Birthday Drink: a Dark and Stormy |
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| House Salad with Cucumber Avocado Dressing |
- DINNER DATE: Last Friday evening, Dave took me out to my very fave local, family-owned restaurant. Oh my goodness. Everything was amazing from the ambiance near the fireplace, to the ice cold cocktail and the decadent dessert. I had a Dark and Stormy and it was perfection. We both had house salads...I ordered the cucumber Avocado dressing and it was so creamy and delicious, I could have made a meal just from the salad. But we also ordered entrees. Dave bought the lasagna and I ordered the Orange Chicken which is a house specialty. We shared decadent Triple Layer Fudge cake for dessert and we both ordered decaf coffee. It was such a great evening out of conversation and good food. I love celebrating my birthday with a quiet dinner and am thankful Dave took me to my fave place.
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| from a local (Adirondacks) country store |
- CUTE COASTERS: In the earlier part of Autumn, when I was up in the southern Adirondacks, I popped into this place to buy some Christmas gifts. I couldn't resist getting myself a couple of these cute coasters. I also got each of my daughters one to put in their stockings for Xmas morning. The store calls them "Mug Mats". I loved these 2 designs the best. This week I pulled them out and put them in our family room. I'm thankful I can help to support small, local stores.
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| image courtesy of google |
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| the left hand corner of our backyard from the deck door at about 8 am |
- MONDAY MORNING! Monday morning we woke to about 3-4 inches of snow on the ground. Our first significant snow this school year! Because it was worse across the Hudson River where I work, my preschool agency was delayed by 2 hours so I had a nice start to Monday morning. Extra cup of coffee, more time in the Word, and even managed to wrap a couple of gifts before needing to leave. Dave did the shoveling and I'm thankful for that along with the delay to school. And the snow made our yards look so pretty! I'm thankful for the changing of the seasons and safe roads/delays.
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| from a co-worker |
- HOLIDAY CHEER! At work on Wednesday, from 1:15-2:30, we enjoyed a staff luncheon catered by an amazing new-to-me restaurant and special treats from our executive director. We had a quick all agency meeting over google meets and then each site enjoyed the luncheon from whichever restaurant the site coordinators chose. . We also had fun with a Yankee Swap. It was great to come together as a site and have some holiday cheer. I'm very thankful to teach at a supportive and fun agency. And a co-worker from my team gifted me with some really awesome hiker socks (they have hikers on them and mountains) along with this cute mountain mug which contained an envelope of instant hot cocoa mix. I'm thankful for thoughtful work colleagues.
- CONVERSATIONS: I had a couple of good conversations this week with my husband Dave and with two very good church friends. It really makes a difference to me when Dave takes time to actually sit and talk about things on our minds or concerns regarding various situations. We also spent every evening working together on the music we need to rehearse for Sunday's Dress Rehearsal for Christmas Choir. I'm thankful for good friends who feel free to share their prayer needs and that I can reciprocate and also that Dave and I have had some good quality time together this week.
That wraps up my FIVE FAVES for the week.
I hope wherever you are, that you enjoy some Sabbath rest this weekend.
11 comments:
How lovely that you had an extra few hours before work! Those surprise times are the best.
Your yard is so pretty. I lived in Florida for so many years, so snow puts me in anxiety if I have to drive in it. But, staying put, I love it.
I'm glad you had such a sweet birthday dinner with your husband. Your meal sounds wonderful, especially the dessert!
It's great to have a great work family. You spend so much of your time at work so it's a blessing to work with great people. Your hiker socks sound cute, and I love the mug.
Have a blessed weekend and a Merry Christmas!
Well it sounds like you had a really good week. I hope you enjoy the weekend too.
Hi Faith, I had a nice visit here today. Snow looks so pretty, but I don't know if I could live in that cold. Enjoy your weekend!
That salad looks so delicious. I love a good salad. The coasters are super cute. I think you daughters will enjoy finding them in their Christmas stockings. So glad you got a two-hour delay. We have had a two hour delay a couple of weeks ago and we went online once last year, but it doesn't happen often. I am glad that you had a nice luncheon at work. I hope you have a good weekend. See you again soon!
I have heard of "Dark and Stormy" drinks but never had one! YUM to that salad. I hope you had an amazing birthday!! Sounds like you had a great week!
The coasters are so cute! And the snow looks so pretty. I'm still loving snow at this time of the winter. Ask me again in March, though! lol I'm glad you had a nice week.
Those are cute coasters. Perfect for stocking stuffers, too.
Amazingly, we really haven't had more than a dusting of snow yet. It's coming, though.
I'm glad you had some down time to relax a bit and some good times talking with Dave and friends.
Your birthday dinner sounds yummy.
Have a good, cozy weekend.
It looks like you had a very nice week ! I too buy Christmas gifts when I travel and find something special. I have a shelf in my wardrobe where I put the gifts until it's time !
We didn't have any snow yet, but it unusually cold ! I didn't go out at all because of the cold it paralyzes me !
Belated happy birthday! I'm glad you had such a wonderful time! Those coasters are cute. How nice to have a bit of delay for work one day. That mug is cute. It's nice to have time for a heart-to-heart with our husbands, isn't it? Though we talk all the time, sometimes we need that set-aside time to really talk.
Happiest birthday wishes!! Here's to a week ahead full of Christmas joy!!
Well we are socked into a polar vortex so this morning it was -24*F feeling like -36*F with the wind chill (-31*C/-38*C) last night. We had a good amount of snow Saturday and Sunday too but no such thing as a delayed start in these parts. Your birthday sounds just perfect and the meal delicious. I like a nice quiet birthday too. Happy belated birthday! Those are cute coasters. How nice that your work place does a little something for it's staff. And a good conversation is definitely a blessing especially with our spouse as it's so easy to just throw things out at each other in the midst of our busyness.
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